10 days old

I've learned to nurse one handed, no hands even at times like now. (Thank you, My Brest Friend pillow.)  So I thought I would pot a little update here. Tuesday we had a little amateur baby photo shoot here at home copying looks from other websites.

Here are the results

 Getting the shot and pose isn't the easiest thing. Good thing I had 2 assistants to hold the baby up and push on the bean bag, pull the blanket tight, etc.

There are some other angles I wanted but since we were in a corner and I didn't think to twist the beanbag (to avoid the corner seam in the pic) we will have to try again another time.

See sweet pictures help me survive through less-than-ideal

 Night feelings. And the real deal is pretty cute too. I am still very emotional (translation: any harsh comment, teasing, criticism, etc could cause outburst at any time, especially if I am hungry.) just being realistic...it feels like the emotional toll of new balance at home is sometimes harder than physical lack of sleep. Although i could go for some sleep right now...

Birth story

Reading other people's birth stories always fascinates me. Now I have one to tell! Well, John's to tell...I don't remember much about my own.  Reading other birth stories while I was actually pregnant made me all teary eyed, too.  So here we go. This is a lot of words for a 4 hour experience.

John's Birth Story

Tuesday morning, 10 am: awaken after sleeping in to more severe contractions than usual. Text with a friend after a couple hours about the intensity and decide it is real labor, but being short and far apart, I think to myself, "maybe it'll be tomorrow or middle of the night tonight." No matter what, I didn't want to cry wolf with false labor pains prematurely, so I refused to let myself think I was in pre-labor. I putter around the house, take a bath, talk to an insurance person and a financial planner...

2:00 pm. Zach and I go to the mall to take my mind off my contractions. They were a lot more manageable if I was moving when they started (as I discovered by both sitting sometimes and doing chores for the past 4 hours) so we figured a bit of a distraction would be nice. We arrived at 2:15 and started tracking their frequency and duration while we were there...to realize they were 3-5 minutes apart, but only 30-40 seconds long, based on how I was measuring them.  I insisted they needed to be consistent for a hour before we called the hospital because I was so mentally convinced labor would take forever and be false at first.  

3:15pm I made it through the hour with relativly low distress, browsing phones, Weck glass containers, window shopping with Zach. The last 10 minutes of that hour were the worst where I started making horrible faces in pain during the contractions. Prior to at as long as I was moving, they were very manageable.

We call the hospital and they say my contractions have to be a full minute long for 2 hours before I should even consider coming in. They tell me in a (condescending?) voice that first labors are long. We go home so I can suffer there.

4:00pm contractions reach a minute, or close to them.  I wander through the house restlessly for 3 minutes before the next one starts and then I hug Zach or go crazy or something...until (4:45?) FINALLY I get some bleeding (another excuse given to us as a reason to come to the hospital) and we call again. They sound a bit skeptical but they finally tell Zach to bring me in.

5:00ish we arrive at the hospital and my water breaks as we walk through the parking lot. I start crying sadly over my wet pants as we get to Labor and Delivery. We are greeted by a kind nurse who I don't think had a clue how much pain I was really in.  (At this point, contractions are bad but I'm just praying I am at least 5cm dialated to make the trip in worth it.). They've been increasing in strength (i.e. i forget how to breathe during it, and all that relaxation techniques stuff is out the window...but since i have nothing to compare it to, i just get through them...). Anyhow, I go through 3-4 more contractions before the midwife gets in to check me, as they hook me up, etc. Those two last contractions I started feeling like pushing at the end and lost more water.

5:15 they are finally checking on me. I say, "I want an epidural right away and narcotics while I wait." I'm literally crawling up the bed side bars during my contraction since now I'm strapped to the monitors and can't move around.  The midwife checks me. The words I never thought I would hear at that point in time: "You are fully dilated to 10cm. We are moving you to the delivery room to push RIGHT NOW."  

I was immediately in shock. What?! No epidural?! We walked in at 10cm? No. I'm not ready for this. We only started tracking contractions 3 hours ago!!!!! NO!!!!!

So off we go to the delivery room. 6:13pm, John was born.  I did my fair share if complaining and whining about the pain (and my lack of interest in a natural birth) but apparently was also very nice and fun in there.  The midwife and nurses were amazing. Zach was a fan-waving rock star, by my side the whole time.  They kept telling me, "he is almost here!" after a few rounds of "almost"  i finally asked... "what exactly does almost mean to you?! to me it means ONE push before DONE." They laughed at that then i "almost" delivered him a few more rounds...

We didn't even have the camera because he intended to go back to the car to get our labor bag after checking me in.  There wasn't even time to call folks to tell them we were in real labor! I don't even remember what the contractions felt like in there because having the baby coming out is a totally different kind of pain/experience. I dont remember the contraction pain during pushing, only the (painful and uncomfortable) sensation of him, coming down e birth canal. With that...you don't get a break in between contractions for the pressure...well, lots has been learned by this experience!!! 

6lbs, 11 oz 20 inches long! We are so blessed!

Born!!!!!

We have a boy! 6lbs, 11oz of boy. He is wonderful. And hilarious. Birth story (a lot of words for something so short) to come soon. I will post a few more pics I'm sure and also will have a Private URL avail upon request so we know who has access to that. (Comment with an email address, etc)

1 cm and projects?

I'm dialated 1 cm and am 39 weeks tomorrow. I know 1 cm means nothing on the grand scale, so I'm not getting too excited about it. Although last week was zero, so, I do like progress!!! I Also had some cramping today, but my Doc said (convenient I had an appointment today) if I was only calling it "cramping" then it's not labor. I agree!  I'm trying to hold off as long as I possibly can with calling something "painful" so that maybe I can trick myself as long as possible into thinking the pain isn't so bad when I'm in real labor.  Right now I'm happy to use the term "uncomfortable" with my general state of being and frequent back aches, side pains, etc.  yesterday I spent a couple hours in the pool and that felt amazing...not to mention I am getting tan! I didn't know you could tan while underwater. You can. 

Over the weekend I almost finished the nursery decorations, which consists of glueing baby shower cards to foam and paper. Originally I envisioned framing them...then mounting on fabric...but I hit a point where going to the store wasn't in the cards and I just wanted to be done.  I can always upgrade these later.  I also have some banners and other shower decorations I am going to hang also.  When I get the energy to massively clean my entire house, mop the floors, etc.  why isn't Zach helping? Oh, he's working. In some sets all day...for 9 out of 10 days straight. He did take my birthday off yesterday though so that was nice! But birthdays are not chore days.

So, I could risk avoids all chores until his work is done, but then what will I do all day long while I wait? Tomorrow is my last day of work and it has been SO nice already cutting back on my hours as it is.  I could easily not work!!! If inky that earned us medical benefits though...oh well! 

Monday I drafted a super whiny and complaining blog post, you are welcome for me deleting it! I was just tired. I had labor dreams which, if you are wondering, even if you are sleeping to have said dream, it is not a restful sleep! Then every time I would wake up, I would be hyper aware of the dream and try to figure out if I really was in labor.  Not restful!!!

Ok, so, onto the pictures from the nursery. I will try to get a belly pic up by Friday.

Chocolate

Chocolate chip pop tarts.
Chocolate pudding.
Andes mints.
Chocolate sno-caps.
Chocolate skinny cow candy bars.
Mocha drink.

Those were all just purchased at our most recent shopping trip. Not to mention we already have a box of cocoa pebbles waiting to be devoured. What can I say...chocolate makes some things more tolerable. Like work stress. And filing for medical leave.

Luckily, it's not hitting my hips and butt all just yet. Here's the 38 week pic!  There is a 20% chance I could deliver this week. A girl can hope, right? Although as my friend Emily pointed out, he is a whole heck of a lot easier to take care of right now in his current state...so I need to enjoy what I have left!

Off to the pool tomorrow to give my puffy foot a circulation break!

Moses Basket!!!

Well, I have to say...Zach and I have been blessed beyond belief by friends and family during this pregnancy. This past weekend, I received a fun Safari themed shower with family. I'm excited to reuse some of the decor in the nursery, as I've planned with other shower decor and various baby shower cards (if I finish that project re-baby.)

One of the things we got was my cousin's Moses basket. It was last outfitted for a girl, but 1 amazon bassinet sheet and a night of sewing later and we are boy-ready.  I should have taken a close up if the fabric because it is really adorable...just click on the pic to zoom in, ok? 

I'm excited to be able to use this.  17 days now until my due date! Today we bought half of Costco, because, you know if we ran out of toilet paper when the baby is 4 weeks old, there would be no possible way to get any more...or at least I just wanted to avoid that potential problem. But yeah. TP, paper towels, kleenex, dish soap, laundry tabs...you name it, we stocked up. Kind of ridiculous really. But we should be set for the rest of the year in some if those things, so...it's done.

I think the baby might have dropped today because I've peed 3 times in as many hours and usually I can last a little longer than that. I have an appointment tomorrow so maybe the Doc will clue me in.

That's pretty much all I have to say...I'm planning a marathon enchilada making session this week for freezer meals...looking forward to the fruits of that labor!!!

37 weeks: hormonal hazards

We've got 3 more weeks to go, give or take 10 days! I've been wearing out awfully easily these days so starting next week I'm cutting back some at work. This should give me the time to make a huge Costco run, bake a huge batch of chicken enchiladas for the freezer, granola bars, and zucchini bread...plus sew a few last minute things, de-spider the house to the best of my ability, and do some last minute cleaning.  Short list, right? 

They don't want me at work anyhow. Except for the part where I have to finish up all my projects. It's just been so stressful that I literally canNOT do anything else while I work because even texting a friend about plans completely overwhelms me. Hormones! So hopefully I can rest more and have more time for my chores and exercise.

Lest you think I've abandoned all my chores already, I did manage some shopping one night this week (after a workout, nonetheless!) that involved a very fun coupon haul. I needed the 4 9v batteries for our smoke alarms and everything else in the picture ended up being free. Crazy, right? This is why I can't completely give up couponing. But, I only do it when it's really worth it! 

I'll try to get a belly picture soon. It's really annoying that I can't upload to my picasa from my phone anymore. I fixed the problem once but now it's back. How will I ever load baby pics??? iPad??? Who wants to haul around the iPad everywhere???  I guess we will find out soon...

Oh. I almost forgot! I met a famous person Sunday. Well, famous to me. You know Jeannett from Life Rearranged? (Blog) I was in SLO and saved a row of seats next to a random person. During greet time she turned to me...and I recognized her! And her dress. I mean, I follow on IG and I've been reading her blog for something like 3 years. I tried to act normal and not spout out all her kids names and whatnot. Even though my husband and I walked right next to her hubby and first son on the way to lunch. I'm not a stalker! I have a good memory! Anyhow, I really like her blog and writing. Go check her out!